They're BAAACCKK!

My favorite flower-- the passion vine, such an unusual flower
Do you remember the crazy caterpillar/cocoon/butterfly ordeal of last year? I have seen several caterpillars as well as cocoons over the past couple of days. It is a lot of fun watching the whole cycle of life (right down to the spider webs that have been added around several of the cocoons) Guess the spiders need something good to munch on as well. Were you observant enough to see the caterpillar on the leaf in the above picture? (look closely to the right of the flower)we were able to watch this butterfly to the fianl exit from his cocoon (well, Sam saw, but still doesn't understand what he watched!)while we were outside today there were 4 butterflies flying all around the backyard. Samueal had a blast chasing them, I had a blast watching him knowing all the while that he will have a good nap afterward :)

Will I EVER learn?

Quiet plus Toddler = TROUBLE!!! have I not said this equation before?

I was on the phone, Kirk was calling to let me know that he was on his way home from work. We had been in the kitchen, I was working on food, Sam was playing in the pantry (for some reason the pantry has become a great place to play cars) I went into the family room, Sam remained in the pantry. I then hear him whimpering and ask what is wrong, he doesn't answer, but continues to whimper. Since Sam is good at whimpering when I am on the phone, I keep talking. Then the whimpering sounded different so I go to see what is going on. I discover Samuel covered in crystal light powder. He somehow managed to open one of the tubs and get the powder all over him. The flavor was strawberry, therefore the color was red. Somehow (don't know how) it stuck to his hands, arms, legs and feet. When I got to him, Samuel had the look of pure terror on his face. He continued to whimper, showed me his feet and then lunged to me. It was at this point that I realized he thought the kool aid was blood and that he was hurt! It took me quite a while to calm him and to show him that he was not hurt. Because he was so scared it took a while for the thought to pop into my head ("I need a picture of this!") This was the post drama picture
Notice his clothes are off, they too were covered in the powder and were removed at the scene of the crime.
I can see how a 2 year old would confuse this with blood... it really did look scary especially since he was covered in it!

How long will I live?

Want to predict your life span?
This is pretty interesting. Click here. Be sure to watch the age prediction on the top right of the screen change as you answer the various questions.

Bunny tails

Sam found the bunny that Ma had given him for Easter and was enjoying making it sing so that he could "dance" He had it up on the couch beside Molly and I didn't think anything of it. He then be-bopped around the family room with his singing bunny. I looked over at Molly and noticed an unusual addition to her backside... can you see it? Poor bunny... had to give up his TAIL! It looks cute on her now, just so long as she doesn't want to be a "bunny" as an adult--- playboy that is!

Look what I did

I am so proud of myself.... I have had the mom-mobile for 11 months and this is the first tire I have had to replace!!
Those of you who know me well know that I have a tendency to go through tires like water. I can't even remember how many tires I had to buy for my last car--- and of course it had "special, hard to find, expensive" tires UGH.
When I get a nail, screw, razor blade or whatever else that will puncture the tire I have quite the knack of placing it in areas that are non-fixable. Notice the picture above, how in the world did I get a nail there? ARGH! at least we only had to purchase 1 tire and it was over $100 less than my previous car's tires!!!

Sweet baby!

I don't know who she is, but I hope she stays around a while. This is our (hopefully) new daughter Molly. She is actually awake and not screaming (very rare occurrence) this week has been soo much better. When she smiles her whole face lights up. I love to see her smile, and thankfully we have seen her do a lot more of it this week. Last Thursday she started rolling over from her tummy to her back. I think it surprised her at first, but now it makes her mad as she prefers her tummy. She has also started scooting across the floor. She won't win any races yet, but she sure can move a couple of feet away. She tries pretty hard to get those legs bent and under her body, I don't think it will be too terribly long before she figures it out. I am not ready for her to be mobile yet, if I swaddle her really tight will it help?! She is not as strong as Sam was at this age yet, but I think she wants to match him in his crawling (he was crawling at 4 months 1 week!)

Grandparents day

Happy Grandparents Day!We LOVE You!!
xoxox Sam and Molly

the ZOO

What a BIG day! Kirk was off and so we took Samuel on his first Zoo trip. Of course the trip started with a ride on the "choo choo" rail system in our city. Sam was so excited-- he is in awe of anything train related.
The first animals we saw were "boblos". (His FAVORITE thing in the whole world is his penguin Pablo from the backyardigans. ) He had fun watching these guys, they had just as much fun watching him I think!
The gorilla (gaw-key) was next. It was so neat that it was right there in front of the window for us. Too bad the lady would not move an inch to let Sam get right in front! (and we were there for quite a while)
They have this neat children's area where you can play with the birds. Sam went right in and tried to pick them up and put them on his own shoulder. You would have thought that he had been there before or that we had told him he could do this... He had no fear whatsoever.
It was a BIG day and a lot of fun, but then a RARE, RARE event happened. Sam put on his shades, put his arms behind his head actually CLOSED HIS EYES!!! He was asleep within 5 minutes of getting into the car.

Sam had a lot of fun seeing all of the animals and loved repeating all of the funny names of the unusual ones. We enjoyed seeing him explore the wonderful world of animals!

Bye-Bye eye-urrr

Does anyone remember our newest addition to the family?
Sam really enjoyed her- everyday he would run over to the window to see her, say "Hi eye-urr" and just watch her. (ok-- as I type that I realize how pathetic it sounds- Sam might just need a pet!)
well, She had to go.... she decided to add more friends /family to the fold.
I decided these friends were just too much , therefore they and their mother had to leave. Too bad they couldn't just find another happy place to stay, but when it is time to go, it is time to go.